By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – Fair St. Louis executive director Rich Meyers says it's hard to nail down an exact figure, but several hundred thousand people came to the Arch grounds this 4th of July weekend.
After losing about $340,000 in 2003, this year the fair began accepting donations in rocket-shaped cash bins.
Meyers says there's no tally yet there, either.
"We did not have any kind of goal in mind for the red rockets," Meyers said. "Because we had never done it before, we had no way of expecting what they might produce. I'd be surprised if it was under $20,000 or over $200,000, but that leaves a lot of room in the middle."
Rain on Friday and Saturday hurt attendance those days, and Meyers says the event probably lost money.
After getting the Arch grounds cleaned up, workers will begin replanting grass and shrubs.